Palestinian armed groups have vowed to respond to Israel’s attack on a tunnel in a southern town of the Gaza Strip late on Monday that left at least seven people dead and nine others wounded.

“We will exercise our right to respond – this is our duty,” Daoud Shehab, a leader in the Islamic Jihad movement, told Al Jazeera, adding that it is the legitimate right of the resistance groups to respond.

Palestinian media said that the tunnel in Khan Younis had been hit by the Israeli air force.

“Reports said Israel fired five missiles at the tunnel that was being dug east of Khan Younis and which Israel claims was leading to its territory,” Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

Israeli officials said that the tunnel near the border wall, which was in the process of being built, was blown up after being monitored for some time.

The ministry of health in Gaza officially identified five of those killed as members of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad and two others as members of Hamas’ Izz Eddine al-Qassam Brigades.

Hamas decried the attack as the “latest Zionist crime”.

“Resisting the occupation in all its forms is a natural right guaranteed for our people,” the movement said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Fatah, the West Bank-based political party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called for dialogue between Palestinians to discuss the best response to the Israeli bombardment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed what he called “breakthrough technology” in dealing with tunnel threats.

He also held Hamas responsible for any attempt to harm the sovereignty of his country.

Since 2008, Israel has launched three offensives on the Gaza Strip.

The latest one took place in the summer of 2014 and resulted in the deaths of more than 2,200 Palestinians, including 500 children.

Sixty-six Israeli occupation soldiers and seven Israeli non-combatants were killed in the same period.

The Israeli blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip, in its current form, has been in place since June 2007.

Israel controls Gaza’s airspace and territorial waters, as well as two of the three border crossing points; the third is controlled by Egypt.

The dedicated efforts of the Department of Culture & Tourism, Abu Dhabi to increase the numbers of tourists from India, has got off to a promising start when several 100 Mumbaikars witnessed the opening of the 1st ever “Abu Dhabi Week” in India.

The exposition ran last week from Fri to Sun at Mumbai’s sprawling MMRDA grounds, BKC and featured a collection of Abu Dhabi’s tourist & cultural attractions, which the organizers believe will encourage more Indians to consider the emirate as a holiday destination.

Before declaring the opening of the weekend festival, Mubarak Al Nuaimi, Director of Promotions & Overseas Offices at the Department of Culture & Tourism, Abu Dhabi addressed the media, members of the travel trade & distinguished invitees and averred that during the 1st 8 months of 2017, Abu Dhabi had seen a 9% increase in hotel occupancy by Indian guests.

A total of 223,000 guests from India stayed in hotels in Abu Dhabi for an average of 2.8 days during this period, he added. In a pre – event statement reflecting the increasing potential of India for the Abu Dhabi tourism sector, Mubarak Al Nuaimi averred, “India is a key tier – one priority for Abu Dhabi and it represents our 2nd – largest international source market for hotel guests.”

“Apart from positioning the emirate as a holiday destination, we will also underline the message that Abu Dhabi is an ideal business locale for the meetings, incentives, conferences & exhibitions, MICE, industry, with a superb selection of venues for delegations from India,” he added.

Writer – director Atanu Mukherjee’s debut feature Rukh which stars Manoj Bajpayee is the latest offering from Drishyam Films after the acclaimed Newton. Rukh which is directed by Atanu Mukherjee, produced by Drishyam Films & presented by Eros International got released in theatres across India on 27th Oct, 2017.

The film which is an emotional story of a father & son, also stars Adarsh Gourav, Smita Tambe & Kumud Mishra and features some soul stirring music by Amit Trivedi.

Keeping in mind the theme of the film, an innovative social campaign was recently launched to promote the film. Titled My Dad My Hero, the campaign was flagged off by Manoj Bajpayee and saw him & his co – stars from Rukh share fond memories of their fathers and the life lessons they have learnt from them.

The campaign has slowly & steadily gained momentum with each passing day as some of the biggest names of Bollywood have enthusiastically taken to social media to talk about the bond they shared with their fathers. These include Imtiaz Ali, Anurag Kashyap, Radhika Apte, Vicky Kaushal, Shweta Tripathi, Gulshan Devaiah & Shreyas Talpade amongst others.

A father is the 1st friend & hero of every individual who inspires them to bravely face the battle of life. The My Dad My Hero campaign sees celebrities talk about how their fathers inspired & helped them to achieve their dreams and become the successful individuals they are today. They also talked about how the quality of their fathers to face every obstacle bravely and not buckle under pressure inspired them to pursue their personal & professional challenges successfully.

Manoj Bajpayee, the lead actor of Rukh averred “My father never faltered & lost his cool even under the worst of circumstances. He wanted me to be a doctor since he couldn’t fulfill his dream of becoming one. He was a little disappointed when he came to know that I wanted to be an actor instead. But even after realizing that I am not interested in becoming a doctor, he wholeheartedly supported me in realizing my dream of being an actor.”

Director Anurag Kashyap averred “I was 8 – 9 years old when I was sent to a boarding school for the 1st time though I never wanted to go to one. And when I met my father for the 1st time after being in boarding for 6 months, he took me out & showed me movies. That was his way of expressing his love for me. He is not a very expressive person and this was the 1st time ever that he expressed the love & the affection he had towards me. Hence it’s a very special memory for me. ”

Actor Vicky Kaushal who had also featured in Drishyam Films’ much loved Masaan averred, “My dad always believed that one should give 100% to their present & their future will be better than what they want it to be. This has always been his motto and it is going to stay with me throughout my life. While I was growing up, he didn’t force me to excel in academics. But he ensured that I imbibed some great principles such as honesty & sincerity.”

Recollecting the memories he shared with his father, Director Imtiaz Ali averred, “My father has been a big influence in my life. He taught me to never follow money. He used to always say that if you follow money it will go further away from you. But if you do your work sincerely it will always follow you.”

Recollecting the life lessons that his own father taught him, Manish Mundra, the Founder of Drishyam Films & the Producer of Rukh, shared, “The most important thing my father has taught me since childhood is that a person never gets anything before it’s the right time & fate. And the important thing to remember when you move ahead in life is that you should not leave behind the people who need you. If someone needs you & you cannot help them, then you end up losing that person’s trust. When I think of my dad I remember that he taught me that there is a time that will come for everyone and this time keeps changing. So it’s important that we respect this time & remain humble. Nobody can get more or less than what fate has in store for them.”

Incidentally speaking Rukh was a part of the inaugural Drishyam – Sundance Institute Screenwriters Labs 2015 & also a part of NFDC India’s Film Bazaar Recommends 2016. A former Berlinale Talent (2015), Atanu Mukherjee is an alumnus of Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute. He has also directed the short film The Gatekeeper, which was a part of South Asian International Film Festival, New York 2014 & even bagged the “Best Short Fiction” award at IDSFFK Kerala 2015.

The scripted scenario of Rukh reaveals: Away from home in a boarding school, 18 year old Dhruv is ignorant about the ongoing crisis in his family. His life takes an unexpected turn as he gets the news of his father’s death in a car accident. As he copes with the tragedy, hidden truths begin to unravel. Dhruv’s father Divakar went bankrupt before his death. Even as his mother Nandini struggles to shield him from the truth, Dhruv starts looking for answers. Was his father’s death an accident or a premeditated murder? The search leads to a series of unexpected revelations, as he discovers the shades of his father’s personality he had never seen before. Rukh is about the journey of a boy rediscovering his lost connections & familial ties, through the secrets & memories he must confront on his way.

Drishyam Films is a company born out of love for cinema, Drishyam Films aims to build a platform for unique voices of Indian independent cinema & create global content with rich Indian stories. Their international award – winning films include Ankhon Dekhi, Masaan, Dhanak, Waiting, Umrika & Newton (which is now India’s official entry to the Oscars 2018). Their upcoming films include Nila Madhab Panda’s Kadvi Hawa starring Sanjay Mishra & Ranvir Shorey. Drishyam Films partnered with the Sundance Institute, USA to organize a Screenwriters’ lab for Indian writers for 2 successive years. They have also set up a VFX studio specializing in post production & visual effects for feature films & commercials.

As per the measurement, it will be kept ready & it will distributed at the same place on 7th Jan, 2018.

‘‘As we stood amongst the poorest of the poor in everywhere , some of them coming from 1000’s of miles away, we realised this was not just about fitting limbs but also about restoring dignity to other human beings, and in the process to ourselves, for it is in giving that we receive. There may be other places in the world where compassion is that tangible; it is just that we had not seen any.’’ averred Bimal Kumar Saraogi, Project Director & Karnataka Marwari Samaj.

Anil Kumar Alampuria, President, Karnataka Marwari Samaj averred, “We are very proud to continue our social services every year, so that more & more people can be benefited”.
The artificial limbs provided by Karnataka Marwari samaj use Jaipur Limb Technology. This technology has been developed & further refined by the research & development team of the society. The Jaipur Limb is a one – stop facility and the patients who come are measured & their custom – made limb/caliper are fabricated & fitted, without making them visit again a 2nd time. it is so efficient that after this limb is fitted, a person can walk like a normal person without a stick or support, and even run, ride a bicycle & climb a tree. After the fitment many of the patients can go back to work in the field, factories, shops & offices.

The win ensured a quarter-final berth as India head the points table with nine points.

The first quarter saw both teams play cautiously. With Malaysia playing defensive hockey, India threaded patiently without making any unforced errors that would bring advantage to Malaysia.

Having ended the first quarter in a stalemate, Malaysia put India on the back foot when they won the first penalty corner of the match in the initial minutes of the second quarter.

However, an alert Rajani Etimarpu made a brilliant save. The next few minutes saw both teams trade penalty corners. While India earned one penalty corner, Malaysia were awarded two but they didn’t lead to goals.

Both teams played out evenly in the third quarter too. Another penalty corner won by Malaysia was not capitalised by them, ending the third quarter too in a stalemate.

India held their nerves to turn the match around in the fourth quarter as they came up with a strong finish. First, forward Vandana Katariya scored a sensational field goal in the 54th minute to give India a 1-0 lead.

The following minute saw dragflicker Gurjit Kaur convert a penalty corner taking India’s lead to 2-0 that put pressure on the Malaysian unit.

Though Malaysia won a penalty corner at the start of the fourth quarter, their poor conversion dented their hopes.

Though the Malaysians made desperate attempts to score in the dying minutes of the match, the Indian defence kept away the attackers.

Mumbai: Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui Monday issued an apology for “hurting the sentiments” of women whose names he had mentioned in his memoir, “An Ordinary Life” allegedly without their consent and has decided to withdraw the book.

The 43-year-old actor took to Twitter in the wake of the controversy surrounding his autobiography, co-written by Rituparna Chatterjee, in which he detailed his relationships and flings with former Miss India Niharika Singh and actor Sunita Rajwar.

“I’m apologising to everyone whose sentiments are hurt because of the chaos around my memoir ‘An Ordinary Life’. I hereby regret and decide to withdraw my book,” he tweeted.

The critically-acclaimed actor drew a lot of flak for revealing personal details about his “passionate” affair with his “Miss Lovely” co-star Niharika.

Excerpts from the book started doing the rounds on October 23 and Niharika issued a statement a day later slamming Nawaz for “exploiting and disrespecting” a woman to sell his autobiography.

While Rajwar took to Facebook to blast the actor for spreading lies and claiming that she dumped him for his “poor status”.

“I did not dump you for your poor status but for your poor thinking,” Rajwar said, adding she was poorer than the actor at that time and their relationship did go beyond a play on which they worked together.

Chandigarh: In a shocking turn of events in the Junaid Khan lynching case, the judge of the trial court hearing the case has sought action against Additional Advocate General Naveen Kaushik for allegedly helping persons charged with killing the 15-year-old.

In an interim order on October 25, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Faridabad, Y S Rathore accused Kaushik of assisting the defense counsel representing Naresh Kumar, one among those accused in the violence which eventually resulted in the death of 16-year-old Junaid Khan last June.

“This act of Mr Naveen Kaushik, Additional Advocate General Haryana amounts to professional misconduct and is against legal ethics and highly unbecoming of an Advocate, particularly because he is a Law Officer in the office of Advocate General, Haryana,” Judge Rathore said on October 25.

The judge noted that the case is a sensitive one with communal overtones. As such, if the AAG appears along with the defense counsel, “it will send a wrong signal and will also create a feeling of insecurity amongst the victim party and will adversely affect the aim of the court to conduct free and fair trial.”

The judge has directed that the issue be brought to the notice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court so that appropriate action may be taken in the matter.

According to an Indian Express report, Advocate General of Haryana Baldev Raj Mahajan has said that action would be taken if it is found that Kaushik had made an appearance as alleged.

Junaid, his brother and two cousins were attacked on a Mathura-bound train in June by a mob, which also hurled communal slurs against them. The 15-year-old later died of stabbing injuries. The trial court had recently framed charges against Naresh Kumar among others.

Bengaluru: Two bike-borne men robbed Rs 18.5 lac from a private agency staffer who was loading cash at an ATM kiosk near Jalahalli Cross here on Monday, October 31.

Police said that the incident happened at 6.30 am on Monday morning at ICICI ATM kiosk. The ATM kiosk is just 300 metres away from Rockline Mall.

As per details available, three staff members of the agency named ‘Secure Well Security Services’ identified as Sagar, Mohan and Prasanna, had gone to Jalahalli Cross ICICI ATM to load cash. They were followed by the bike-borne duo and then waited near the ATM.

After the cash carrying van stopped outside the ATM, Mohan and Prasanna went inside the ATM kiosk to open the machine. When Sagar got down with the cash bag, he was attacked by the two who tried to snatch the bag from him. Sagar resisted, but was stabbed on the chest, shoulder, and legs. By the time Mohan and Prasanna came to his rescue, the duo had fled with the cash.

Police said that there was no gunman in the van, which is mandatory as per rules.

Injured Sagar is recovering in a hospital. As per Sagar’s statement, the two men were aged between 25 and 30 years and had covered their faces with helmet.

The Bagalagunte police have formed a separate team to nab the miscreants.

Police said the agency had brought Rs 1.25 crore in cash to replenish five ATM kiosks. Sagar had taken Rs 18.5 lac in a bag to replenish the Jalahalli Cross ATM when the incident took place.

New Delhi: BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday said that compulsory Aadhaar is a threat to the country’s security and expressed hope that the Supreme Court will strike it down when its larger Constitution bench takes up the matter.

The firebrand BJP leader took to Twitter and tweeted that he will soon write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi detailing how compulsory Aadhaar poses a big threat to the country’s security.

Swamy said this a day after the Supreme Court referred a batch of petitions challenging the Centre’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of various services and social welfare schemes to a five-judge Constitution bench.

The order was passed by the Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud while responding to a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Aadhaar law on charges of being intrusive and violating the right to privacy.

The top court also pulled up the West Bengal government for directly approaching it against the central government’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits under social welfare schemes.

The bench said that hearing on the petitions challenging the government’s move would take place in the last week of November.

The court said this after Attorney General KKVenugopal told the bench that the government had filed a detailed affidavit refuting all the allegations on expanding the area under Aadhaar linkage.

Asking the court not to issue any further interim orders, Venugopal said the government was ready to argue and the court, if deemed fit, could set up a Constitution bench to decide on the various Aadhaar petitions.

He said the government had already issued more than 100 orders and notifications to address the glitches in the implementation of Aadhaar.

The government counsel also told the court that fake reports were being spread about Aadhaar linking, including how the unique ID was being made compulsory for CBSE students to appear in Class 10 and 12 exams.

As court said that the challenge to Aadhaar law would be heard by the five-judge Constitution bench, the issue of extending the deadline for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts, PAN, mobile numbers and other schemes for those who don’t have the unique identification number is now on the backburner.

The issue is not there, as the court is hearing the matter in the last week of November, the Attorney General said.

The existing deadline is up to December 31.

In the last hearing of the matter on October 25, the Centre had indicated that the deadline for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts, PAN, mobile numbers and other schemes for those who don’t have the unique identification number and are willing to go for it may be extended till March 31.

The validity of Aadhaar law that has been challenged by a number of people, including former Karnataka High Court Judge KS Puttaswamy, first Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Magsaysay awardee Shanta Sinha and researcher Kalyani Sen Menon.

Aadhaar is being challenged in the court amid apprehensions that it violated right to privacy – which a nine-judge bench had already declared as a fundamental right – with the use of biometric details like fingerprints and iris scans.

New Delhi: Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Monday moved the Supreme Court opposing a plea seeking reopening of the 70-year-old assassination case of the Mahatma.

A bench of Justices S A Bobde and M M Shantanagoudar questioned the locus of Tushar Gandhi in the case.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for Gandhi, said she will explain the locus if the court moves ahead with issuing of notice.

The bench said there were several ifs and buts in the case and will like to wait for the amicus curiae (friend of the court) Amrender Sharan’s report.

Sharan sought four weeks time to file the report, saying he was yet to receive relevant documents from the National Archives.

Jaising said that she is opposing the reopening of the 70-year-old assassination case of Mahatma and also questioned the locus of the petitioner, Mumbai-based Pankaj Phadnis, a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat.

The bench listed the matter after four weeks.

The apex court had on October 6 appointed senior advocate Sharan as amicus curiae to assist it in the matter.

The bench had raised a volley of questions including how evidence could be collected now to order further investigation into the case which had led to the conviction and execution of Nathuram Vinayak Godse and Narayan Apte on November 15, 1949.

Gandhi was shot dead at point blank range in New Delhi on January 30, 1948 by Godse, a right-wing advocate of Hindu nationalism.

Phadnis has sought reopening of the probe on several grounds, claiming it was one of the biggest cover-ups in the history.

He has questioned the ‘three bullet theory’ relied upon by various courts of law to hold the conviction of accused Godse and Apte, who were hanged, and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who was given the benefit of doubt due to lack of evidence.

He has also claimed that there could be a third assassin other than the two convicted persons and submitted that there was a need to investigate whether the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), an intelligence agency of the US during World War II and a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), had tried to protect Gandhi.

Phadnis has challenged the decision of the Bombay High Court which on June 6, 2016 had dismissed his PIL on two grounds — firstly, that the findings of fact have been recorded by the competent court and confirmed right up to the apex court, and secondly, the Kapur Commission has submitted its report and made observations in 1969, while the present petition has been filed 46 years later.